JUL 28

Texas likes to do everything big, including wind farms and investing in clean energy. The states has been given the thumbs up for a $4.9 billion plan to set up transmission lines to carry the wind power generated in West Texas to surrounding urban areas.

The plan will account for enough lines to carry 18,000 MW – a serious amount of electricity. The state currently generates 5,000 MW, so these lines will leave plenty of room for growth, which T Boone Pickens will help to fill with this own wind plan.

The plan’s funding is coming (in part) from the people who will benefit from the electricity – citizens will pay and extra $3 to $4 each month on their electricity bills for he next few years, which is a pretty small price to pay for getting clean energy delivered to your home. The rest of the funding will come from other investors. Oncor, for example, filed with the Public Utility Commission to show it has its wallet on the table to help with a big chunk of the project. The lines would be up and running somewhere in the next 3 to 5 years, and after that, users would likely see some savings in their energy bills.

Since electricity costs are high, partly because of clogged transmission lines, the project really is practical, and will help out with energy costs as well as reducing pollution. Yet, the one person on the Texas Public Utilities Commission voting against the project, Julie Caruthers Parsley, said she worries this will delay other projects like the building of nuclear power plants. There’s always at least one…

Let’s just hope this project does exactly that. Should this plan come to fruition, Texas will without a doubt be the biggest contributor to wind energy, creating and distributing more than the next 14 states combined. The plan would also be the biggest investment in clean energy in US history. Everything’s bigger in Texas. With luck, more near-future investments in clean energy may soon overshadow even this project. With an investment like this comes more jobs, more trial-and-error knowledge, and much more public awareness for the need and potential of clean energy investments.

Via Cleantechnia, AZCentral; Photo via desiitaly

Comments (25)

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The consumers are paying for it
written by The Food Monster, July 28, 2008

http://thefoodmonsterblog.blogspot.com
This is great, except that the customers are paying for it. It is like a forced investment. They won't even have ownership. If they move away, investment is over.

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Pickens Real Plan
written by Dan, July 28, 2008

My understanding was Pickens' original plan was to use the wind power as a tool to get evesments(sp) to the major cities, so he can pump fresh water out to these cities. Which he'll be pumping out of the Ogallala Aquifer. At a rate that would cut the water level to 50% in the next 50 years.

So hurray for the renewable energy....but I feel badly for all the states that the water issue will effect.

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...
written by MarkR, July 28, 2008

As a fifth gen. Texan, I'm very excited about the wind farms. and while I'm not a big fan of nuclear, I'll take it over coal any day.

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What's wrong with the consumers paying f
written by Carlos, July 28, 2008

In response to the food monster: What's wrong with consumers paying for it? Who else is going to pay for it? I would be happy to pay a few dollars extra each month, knowing that my energy was clean.

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Texas Wind
written by Robert Wood, July 28, 2008

This is great to see. When Texas first started their wind energy program it became very clear very quick that that was the way to go to produce energy. It may take Texans a little time to get used to wind mills out in the field instead of oil wells but This is great for Texas and for the US.

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...
written by Clinch, July 28, 2008

Is it a set $3-$4 per month? Or is it a percential increase, with $3-$4 being based on the average energy bill?
And if customers are paying more to offset the construction of this, do they much cheaper electricity when the construction has been paid off, or does the energy company take all the extra profit for themselves?

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...
written by G, July 28, 2008

If the customers are paying $3-4/month for it, shouldn't they (or the state) own it?

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...
written by z, July 28, 2008

agreed...as i texan i would not mind owning it...but its the lines so tboone can CHARGE us for it. we will still pay high prices, that doesnt matter at all. its for the lines. i am all for alternative energy, but what happens when we dont have wind? We DO NOT store power. This is a bad idea. Alternative energy plans have to be multifaceted to solve for non-windy days, overcast days, etc, etc

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...
written by me, July 29, 2008

Generation is separate from transmission. Pickens is a power generator. If it wasn't for him, you'd be paying for someone else to generate the power. Either way, it needs to be transmitted to the users. Either you build a line so that Pickens can generate or you build one so that someone else can. Take your pick.

Yeah, Pickens is going to make money from this. Its the American way.

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...
written by Dreagon, July 29, 2008

The wind farms are a great idea, but hoping they delay nuclear plants is retarded. We need multiple forms of energy production. What happens when there is no wind?

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Texas and No Wind????
written by WstTexBoy, July 29, 2008

Boy Howdy it sure is funny to hear people make such silly statements.
We need to slow down on Nuke plants until we find a way to depose of the waste.
But the best laugh was no wind!!!!
I've live here all my life and it's a rare day when there's no wind.

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Neat!
written by Stephen, July 29, 2008

I drive by these wind farms all the time on the way between Lubbock and Austin. It's really like being in a different world when you drive among them. And they are HUGE!

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RE: Neat!
written by Aaron, July 29, 2008

If you think those are big wind farms between Austin and Lubbock, you should see the farms between Lubbock and the New Mexico border. They are perhaps 10 to 20 times the size.

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Gah
written by Dan, July 29, 2008

I thought one part of this project was to actually build a battery system that would store some of the energy for when wind wasn't blowing.

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No Wind?
written by Aaron, July 29, 2008

Wind is intermittent, but predictable, so when there is no wind, you fire up gas generation power plants. This is why wind can't account for more than 20% or so of our total usage. Additionally, not all wind farms will be in non-windy areas, combined with conventional generation, the system will be as reliable as ever. It doesn't mean we shouldn't do it, but just that we need to plan for it.

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C'mon...
written by Anonymous, July 29, 2008

Those who are complaining about nuclear power plant waste has to look no farther than the French. They recycle 100% of their nuclear waste. Why can't we do the same?

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French tickler
written by brian, July 29, 2008

They recycle 100% of their nuclear waste.

thanks. I needed that laugh. It's not exactly a closed-loop, perpetual motion machine.

According to the World Nuclear Organization:
EdF sets aside EUR 0.14 cents/kWh of nuclear electricity for waste management costs, and said that the 2004 Areva contract was economically justified even in the new competitive environment of EU electricity supply. Total provisions at end of 2004 amounted to EUR 13.4 billion, EUR 9.6 billion for reprocessing (including decommissioning of facilities) and EUR 3.8 billion for disposal of high-level and long-lived wastes.

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Wow
written by James Woods, July 29, 2008

Dude that is so cool. I lived on a sailboat for YEARS and relied on Wind Power to keep my batteries charged and it worked flawlessly.

JT
www.Ultimate-Anonymity.com

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Money racket
written by Tim, July 29, 2008

It's great that Texas is getting a huge wind farm, and good to that Pickens is footing the multi-million dollar bill for promoting the endeavor. But he doesn't want to use this wind power as extra juice in the grid for electric cars. No, he wants to free up the supply of natural gas currently used to run power stations. Let me guess, he's got huge investments in natural gas?

More energy solutions: http://www.brightfuture.us

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Nice
written by Peter Steward, July 30, 2008

So, the Texans are happy for 'big power' to move in, industrialise the landscape and make them pay for it?

Texas must be a horrible, ugly looking place!

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Ugly Wind Farms?
written by Jmaximus, July 30, 2008

Ugly Wind Farms? This kills me, ever see a coal power plant or a coal mine? Plezzze. :P

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Great to see Texas do this
written by Tina, July 30, 2008

Now maybe Toronto can follow suit using their highways.

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Buying into the Wind
written by Veronica, July 31, 2008

I live in College Station, TX and our utility company is giving us the option to convert our energy consumption to the wind from this farm. You tell them what percent of your usage you want to come from wind and they buy the equivalent amount of wind power. We can cancel or change percent at any time with no penalties. For 100% wind the extra cost is only and additional $30/1000 KWH. I just converted to 50% myself and I'm a "starving college student".

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This could work
written by burnrubber, March 31, 2009

They need to spend some money on 99problems urban farming plan and make a big difference because thi9s by itself wont have a big impact. Bebo.com/99ProblemsDotOrg

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bigpossum
written by Zeke Anderson, November 25, 2010

Unless they are coming across your property with 180 foot towers, without your consent, shut your yaps about the benefits.

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